Authors's Note: That's it! I'm done! HUZZAH!

EPILOGUE

A Year of Madness

Gabriella

"Do you, Michael Alman, take this Lola Montez, to be your lawfully wedded wife, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, 'til death do you part?"

"I do."

"And do you, Lola Montez, take this Michael Alman, to be your lawfully wedded husband, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, 'til death do you part?"
"I do."

"Then without further spanking the puppy, I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss the bride, and keep it PG please."

A rumbling chuckle followed this and Gabriella clapped along with everyone else as the veil was lifted. It had the same effect of someone lifting the shade off of a lamp. Her mother glowed.

The eccentric Spanish priest waved the couple off and they made their way up the aisle, hand in hand. Mrs. Montez turned back to Gabbie, an irrepressible beam lighting up her face, and blew a kiss. She smiled in return but mused at the same time that this was very weird. She was the maid of honor at her own mother's wedding. But then, it was a good kind of weird. And stranger things had happened.

Ryan was there to kiss her outside the church. He looked rather debonair in his retro blue suit, sandy-blonde hair spiked up.

"Good job," he murmured in her ear over the cheers and flying confetti. Mrs. Montez waved out as the car pulled away from the church.

Gabbie grinned. "Good job just standing there?"

"Ah, but you stand beautifully, my dear." He took her hand and laced his fingers into hers. "You okay?"

She nodded. "I am. It feels good. Like we're right where we should be. Know what I mean?"

"I know what you mean."

Back at the Alman residence (where Gabriella, Marie and the newlyweds had been living for some five months now), a cluster of women scurried around the bedroom.

Gabriella's grandmother, with her round, sweet face like a sundried apple, was still in tears, stroking Mrs. Montez's (lawfully Mrs. Alman's) cheeks. Sharpay also fussed over the woman who had become her second mother, smoothing out creases in the dress that only her trained eyes could see.

Ronnie and Kim were helping Gabbie's cousin, Ana fix her shoes, the heels of which had miraculously broken at the same time. Marie was changing into her red skirt and shoes while Mrs…Alman's best friend, Jen touched up her make-up.

Gabbie looked out of the window by which she stood, into the busy garden. Poor old Michael didn't have the privilege of changing out of his suit, and was currently griping to Laurence, the man, the myth, the legend who had planned this event. Gabbie knew Laurie was saying something like, "Babycakes, I wouldn't care if it was a hundred degrees out. If you're gonna make the lady up there happy, you are going to wear this frikkin' suit and you are going to rock it!"

She smiled and looked around the room again, her eyes focusing on Sharpay.

If you had told Gabriella a year and a bit ago that she and Sharpay Evans would be bridesmaids at her mother's wedding, almost friends and no longer enemies, she would have laughed. And then the little bit about Ryan being her boyfriend and Troy being Sharpay's would have had her in stitches.

But here they were. Lined up outside of a candle-lit tent, getting ready to celebrate the end and the beginning.

"Ladies and gents!" Laurie's voice boomed from inside the tent. "Please welcome our newlyweds, the lovely Mr. and Mrs. Alman!"

The roar of applause from family and friends inside may just have lifted the tent. Gabbie looked to Ryan as the couple moved inside.

"You ready, Wildcat?"

Ryan offered his arm and she linked hers in. "Always."

A year ago Gabriella would have laughed. And now she was so happy, all she could do was smile.

"Hey, you two!" Sharpay stood behind them with Troy, and behind them were the rest of the bridesmaids and groomsmen. "Can we get the procession going some time this year?"

They snorted, shook their heads and glided out of the past, into their new lives together…

Sharpay

In some strange way, Sharpay felt that if she let go of Troy's hand, she might slip away from him for good. She would wake up and it would all have been a dream. So for the rest of the night they held hands.

The bridesmaids and groomsmen sat at the longest table in the room, watching the first dance. The lights were low in the crimson tent, so that you could hardly see the pair. Only their silhouettes, inextricably linked. Sharpay did not feel any self-righteous smugness as she watched them. Just a deep satisfaction. Still. She could make a living out of this matchmaking thing.

Shar glanced down the table to where Ryan and Gabriella sat, whispering sweet nonsense to each other. She resisted the urge to shake her head in disbelief. So much had changed in a year.

For Sharpay, she had more friends. She had a happier brother and a calmer mother. Mrs. Evans had been invited to the wedding but declined. She promised Sharpay and Ryan that they would find her at home, though, maybe play Scrabble or something if they were up for it. She seemed to mean it, but Sharpay wasn't too sure. Still. She was feeling very optimistic just then. Very hopeful.

Troy. The boy sitting next to her, clasping her hand under the table and staring at her as if trying to draw a picture to keep in his mind. He made her hope.

She looked away, trying to regain her ability to breathe, and stared at Gabbie once more. The most surprising thing about her relationship with Montez was that she didn't hate her. Gabriella had become a natural part of her life almost. She was her brother's love, her classmate, her fellow drama queen. Not yet a friend, no longer an adversary. Just there.

The floor opened and soon the romantic area turned into more of a nightclub. A nightclub in which the only way to be cool was to do 'The Macarena'.

Sharpay stood and drew Troy to his feet, away from the table. But instead of leading him to the center of the room she pulled him towards the exit, and they slid out together.

"Where are we going?"

"In search of privacy."

"We'll miss the cake-cutting."

"Anti-climax, believe me."

Not wanting to use Gabriella's room, Sharpay could only find the privacy she sought in the second floor bathroom.

"You know," Troy muttered, staring out the open window, "all this wedding stuff's got me in a romantic mood." He turned back to her. "So tell me. What do you want to do? Where do you want do go? Anything you ask, it's yours."

Sharpay gave a vague smirk. "Hm", she hummed. She strolled towards him and hooked her arms around his neck. Sharpay made to kiss him before drawing back as soon as his lips touched hers. Troy pouted. "I want," she purred, "to play…Scrabble."

His eyebrows disappeared under the fringe of sandy-brown hair. "Scrabble?"

She nodded sweetly. "S-C-R-A-B-B-L-E. You said I could have anything I asked for," she added when he looked put out.

Troy rested his hands on her waist. "Fine. Scrabble it is. But be prepared. I have a very big vocabulary."

She sighed. "You boys. Always bragging about the size of your vocab…"

Sharpay's giggle was cut off when he swooped down to kiss her. As she melted into the embrace, Sharpay knew this was a dream she would never have to wake up from…

The Narrator

The exterior of the house glowed with fairy lights and the smiles of the guests, bustling outside for the big send-off.

Sharpay, Gabriella, Marie, Mrs. Montez Snr. and the bridesmaids stood by the car. It was a hugfest as Mrs. Alman rushed to embrace as many people as possible.

Meanwhile, Michael pulled Gabriella into his now trademark bearhug. Gabbie let her stepfather hug her now. She hugged him back, and felt it as an expression of love, no longer a betrayal to the dad she knew was happy for this day.

Mr. Alman left her to tend to his own beaming daughter and it was then that Gabriella's mother appeared.

"You two be good," she murmured in Sharpay's ear, pulling her close.

"Aren't we always?"

The hug was longer for Gabriella, and to her daughter she whispered, "Te amo, Gabbie. You and your father. Always."

She shut her eyes against the sudden swell of sadness. "Love you, too."

An eager aunt grabbed Mrs. Alman's hand, dragged her over, and began to smother her with kisses.

Mr. Alman watched his wife get drawn deeper and deeper into the gathering. "Lola!" he called. "We'll miss our flight!"

It was then that the bride realized she could not, unfortunately, hug the whole word. She gave a big wave instead and ran back to the car.

They screamed and tossed confetti until the car drove out of sight and their arms ached from waving. Marie departed to console her own weepy grandmother, and so Sharpay and Gabriella were left, staring after nothing.

"You know…" said Sharpay. "The other day, I saw this green blouse that was too cute. Might look better on you, though."

"You think?" said Gabriella.

"Yep. You wanna go to the mall tomorrow and check it out?"

She gave her a wry look. "Won't people be kind of weirded out by us shopping together?"

Sharpay shrugged. "Stranger things have happened."

Gabbie grinned. "Can't argue with that."

A/N: I think my next project might be a Chadpay! Yep. I'd like to experiment a little with that! Thanks, everyone. Ciao for now!

Peace and GBU

Ebony Hedlund